Improvement in excavators



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID G'ILMORE AND WILLIAM W. FORREST, OF PEOTONE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORSTO GEORGE LAIDLOW, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN EXCAVATORS.

Specification formingpart of Letters Patent No. 110,759, dated January3, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ,DAVID GILMORE and WILLIAM W. Fonnnsr, of Peotone,in the county of Will and State of Illinois, have invented an ImprovedExcavator; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full andexact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,and letters marked thereon, making a part of this .speciticatiom inwhich- Figure l is a perspective representation of our improvedexcavator. Fig. 2 is a broken plan view of the rear part thereof; Fig.3, a broken elevation of the'truss that supports the frame of theendless belt or carrier; Fig. 4, a side elevation of the frame of theendless belt or carrier; Fig. 5, an elevation, showing how the plow ismade to retain its upright position when the frame of the excavator isinclined.

Thepresent invention relates to animproved earth-excavator, which takesthe earth at one side of the machine and deposits, by means of Vacarrier, into a wagon or other vehicle; and its nature consists, first,in the novel construction of the mechanism whereby the plow is kept inan upright position when the frame of the excavator is inclined, and inthe mechanism employed to adjust the plow to and from the elevator;second, in the novel construction of the extension-elevator; third, inthe novel construction of a truss-frame, by means of which the machineis made very strong, and so as to admit of any desired adjustment of theelevator', and allow the latter to be readily removed for repairs orother purposes, as the whole is hereinafter described.

U U U E E E represent the principal part of the main frame of themachine, which is mounted on wheels h h, in the ordinary manner, theaxle-tree ofthe forward wheels being pivoted to a bolster projectingdown from that part of the frame shown at U, Fig. l, so as to allow themachine to turn around.

Fastened to the frame-piece U U are slotted standards D, which projectabove and below the main frame, and which are fastened at their top endsto a truss, AB, whose outer ends have a firm fastening on the top of theframe-pieces E, and whose lower ends are provided with braces H, whichfasten tothe under sides of the frame-pieces E, and have on their lowerends hoolrs,'by'means of which a swivel connecting-rod, I K, providedwith a tightening-nut, J, is made to complete a com-y pound truss bothlight and strong.

An elevator-frame (shown in Figs. 1 and 4) consists of an innerrectangular frame, 6 6',

which supports anti-friction rollers g g, &c., over which an ordinaryendless belt is carried. To the lower'and upper ends of this frame arexed slotted extensiorifpieces b 9, the pieces 9 supporting a` lowerbelt-roller,v 10, and the pieces b an upper roller, W. The lower pieces9 are moved by hand after loosening the setscrews 1S; but the pieces bare moved by means of racks a, Figs. 1 and 4, and pinions c on bothsides of the main frame 6 6. The latter adjustment is used to tightenthe endless apron, a crank, d, on the shaft of pinions c being arrangedfor that purpose.

The forward end of the elevator-frame is suspended by means of chains14. 14, Fig. 1, and a rotating bar, z, the latter being held in a fixedposition by means of a spring-catch, 3, and a concave ratchet, 4, andthe rear end of the frame is adjusted to any desired height by means ofchains Z; and to facilitate this adjustment anti-friction rollers 16 arepivoted to the sides of frame 6 6', so as to bear against and travel onthe outsides of slotted standards C D.

It will be seen at Fig. l that the rear part of main frame is much widerthan the forward' part. This is done to give the rear wheels the properwidth of track; and in order to have both rollers 16 bear against thestandards 'O D the roller opposite the rear wheels is placedfarther'back upon the frame 6 6.

To remove the elevator-frame for putting on belt, Ste., loosen the nutJ, Fig. 3, and chains 14 Z, and it will fall between the machine.

The endless-belt roller W is driven by means of achainpassingthroughaslot, D, and around a drive-wheel, 5, Figs. 1 and 2,whose journal y has bearings in frame-pieces U U.

The shaft y is driven by means of bevel-gear Q, which has motioncommunicated to it by means of bevel-gear P, and the gear P is 4put inmotion by means of a pinion, N, which is driven by a wheel, M, on therear axle-tree ofthe machine.

A bar, G, is held in place at the front part `of the machine by means oftwo straps, 21, fastcned to the under side of the frame-pieces E E', andit is so arranged as to have a longitudinal reciprocating movement onanti-friction rollers F, placed on its opposite sides near the ends.

To one end of the bar Gis pivoted a slotted draft-bar, r, through whichthe beam 12 of a plow 13, is put, and adjusted by means of a series ofholes both in the beam and standard.

Braces q q are swiveled to a sliding frame, on, Fig. 1, to which ananti-friction roller, fn, is pivoted, said roller traveling on theprojecting end of the frame-piece U, when the standard o' is moved to orfrom the main frame of the machine, or swun g on vits central pivot, m',Fig. 5.

From this description it will be seen that roller 'n sustains the maindraft of the plow, and that it very much lessens the power required toadjust the plow.

The means for adjusting the standard r to avertical position When lchemachine is moving on an incline, as shown by the position of bar G, Fig.5, consists of brace-rods S S and a lever,'t, the latter being pivotedto the bar G, and held in a iixed position by means of a pin put througha disk, u, which is fastened to said bar G.

The means for moving the standard r to Iand from the elevator consist ofa lever, w,which is pivoted both to the bar G and frame-piece U', asshown at Fig. 1, the anti-friction rollers F allowing the bar to bereadily moved, even when the draft of the plowfis on the standard 1.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. The slotted standard r, swiveled braces q, sliding frame m, roller n,braces S S', lever t, disk u., for adjusting the plowr 12 13 t0 aventical position, as set forth.

2. The combination of the slotted standard r, braces q g S S', frame m,roller u, bar G, rollers F, lever fw, and projecting framepiece U, formoving the plow 12 13 to and from the elevator, as set forth.

3. The combination of the trussframe A B, slotted standards C D,removable connecting rod I J K, with the elevator 6 6', as set forth.

4. The extension-elevator consisting ot' the inner frame, 6 6',extension-pieces b 9, rack and pinions c a, and rollers 16, arranged tobe ad justed in the trussframe A B C, as set forth.

DAVID GILMORE. WILLIAM XV. FORREST.

Witnesses M. CoLLINs, ALONZO BROWN.

